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Schools in two cities on alert
January 19,2007
Jeremy Roebuck
Monitor Staff Writer


McALLEN — Two area school districts were on heightened alert Thursday after separate security threats near their campuses.

Administrators locked down Progreso High School for more than five hours after a suspected drug trafficker was spotted near the school.

And in McAllen, the district placed all campuses on heightened alert after an unidentified man tried to enter two neighboring schools Wednesday.

"We decided to take these precautions for the safety and security of our students and staff," Progreso schools spokeswoman Linda Silva said.

The man in the Progreso incident was being pursued by U.S. Border Patrol agents, who had attempted to pull him over earlier that morning, Border Patrol spokesman Oscar Saldaña said.

The search began south of the small city, where agents attempted to pull over two suspicious vehicles headed into the area. One of the drivers parked his Jeep at a day-care center and fled the scene, running toward the high school. Agents recovered 11 bundles of marijuana from the vehicle but could not locate the man or the other car, Saldana said.

The Border Patrol alerted the school to the search, and administrators decided to go into lockdown just before 8 a.m., according to school officials. School administrators lifted the lockdown just before 1 p.m. and reported no injuries or incidents.

In McAllen, school police officers alerted campuses to the second incident on Wednesday, after the man was turned away from both Rayburn Elementary School and Morris Middle School. Both schools are located near the intersections of Main Street and Trenton Road.

It remains unclear what the man did to draw suspicion to himself, but the FBI announced Thursday that they had joined the investigation.

"In light of all the kidnapping issues in the news lately, we take something like this very seriously," FBI spokesman Jorge Cisneros said. However, he would not specify why the bureau joined the case.

McAllen schools officials described the intruder as a 6-foot-tall man in his late 20s or early 30s. He has a medium build, black hair, a light complexion and a pierced eyebrow.

Authorities ask anyone with information on the man to contact McAllen Crime Stoppers at (956) 687-8477.

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Jeremy Roebuck covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.